Comprehensive ALM Guide for Microsoft Power Platform Mastery
Master the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) for Microsoft Power Platform with our comprehensive guide. Learn efficient app development with ALM tools.
The sequel to a profound series of articles is "Mastering ALM (Application LifeCycle Management) for Microsoft Power Platform: A Comprehensive Guide." The piece expounds on the importance of a properly set up application lifecycle management (ALM) structure, particularly within the context of the Microsoft Power Platform. Author Holger Imbery emphasizes the importance of separating app development and production environments, with the suggestion to maintain distinct development, test, and production environments.
- Reminder: Environment strategy
- Prepare the basics
- Creating developer environments
- Creating a GitHub account (if you didn't have one)
- Creating a repository
- Creating a codespace
- Installing the Power Platform Tools extension
- Connecting to the Power Platform environment
- Power Platform CLI (pac)
- Next steps
- Conclusion
These separate environments are crucial for isolating and validating changes, reducing any negative impacts one’s changes could have on a fellow developer's work. It's necessary to assess the specific environmental requirements for different organizations. The blog provides a walk-through for setting up ALM using a lightweight approach.
A significant portion of the guide focuses on creating developer environments in the Power Apps Home Page. It's essential to establish distinct environments for development, testing, and production. Imbery provides a step-by-step guide on creating these environments using the Power Platform Admin Center.
Furthermore, the article guides on setting up a GitHub account and creating a repository. After the repository creation, it introduces Codespaces, a cloud-based development environment provided by Visual Studio code operational in containerized environments. The author then guides on connecting to the Power Platform Environment, using a series of Terminal commands to authenticate one’s account, granting the ability to work effectively with the ALM environment.
Finally, the article introduces the Power Platform CLI (PAC), linking to complete documentation for it on Microsoft Learn. Imbery concludes the piece outlining the importance of mastering ALM for effective app development and management, promising more articles on solutions, achieving a streamlined workflow, pulling data into repositories, and enhancing ALM skills.
In Summary
ALM is central to efficient app development and management within the Microsoft Power Platform. Maintaining separate environments for development, testing, and production, along with employing repositories like GitHub and utilizing tools like Codespaces, streamlines the workflow. While specific environmental needs may vary by organization, the outlined lightweight approach provides a broad framework. The Power Platform CLI also helps in managing the environment efficiently. The series intends to provide more depth on solutions, achieving a streamlined ALM process, and improving ALM skills in future articles.
Learn about Mastering ALM (Application LifeCycle Management) for Microsoft Power Platform: A Comprehensive Guide
In the expansive field of ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) for Microsoft Power Platform, there are several comprehensive guides and training modules available for those endeavouring to become proficient. This may seem daunting at first, but with perseverance and an understanding of some core principles, the process becomes manageable.
ENVIRONMENT STRATEGY REMINDER
Key to successful ALM implementation is establishing different environments for app development and production. At the bare minimum, distinct development and production environments are essential. However, it is highly recommendable to maintain an additional testing environment separate from your development and production environments. This allows for end-to-end solution deployment and application testing validation.
Establishing distinct development environments isolates changes from one work effort before completion, thus reducing instances where one person's alterations negatively affect another's work. Depending on your organization’s specific environmental needs, you might require additional settings for User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Systems Integration Testing (SIT), and training.
PREPARING THE BASICS
Establishing developer tools environments is necessary for ALM. Three distinct environments should be set up - one for development of a solution (Dev), another for testing it (Test), and final one to deploy the solution for production (Prod). Developer environments, short-lived by design, are beneficial for testing features and developing solutions. They should not be conflated with your default environment, which serves as a personal productivity playground.
There are two methods available for creating developer environments: through the Power Platform Admin Center and by using the Power Platform's Command Line Interface (CLI). In this guide, we focus on the Power Platform Admin Center as the method of creation.
GITHUB FOR ALM
As for GitHub, creating an account, a repository, and a codespace (which is a development environment that is cloud-hosted), enhances your capacity for ALM. Codespaces function independent of location and help in maintaining a clean working environment. They are powered by Visual Studio Code, operate in containerized environments, and postulate the basis of our guide's topic today.
POWER PLATFORM TOOLS EXPANSION
Likewise, to aid in your ALM journey, extension of your Power Platform Tools is essential. This will ensure that you can work with your solution and save it to the repository. Additionally, it ensures solid connectivity to the Power Platform Environment, which is a fundamental first step in your project's ascension.
TERMINAL COMMANDS AND POWER PLATFORM CLI
Finally, executing specific terminal commands and understanding the workings of the Power Platform CLI (PAC) will round off your basic training in this endeavor. Reading the full documentation of PAC would be beneficial for a deeper dive into the subject matter.
The upcoming articles will provide insights on solutions, teaching you to create, export, import, and clone solutions to the repository. They will even guide you to manage the code in the repository while maintaining a lightweight approach.
To sum up, mastering ALM for the Microsoft Power Platform is fundamental for efficient app development and management. With designating separate environments, utilizing GitHub repositories, and mobilizing codespaces, the workflow can be streamlined. Look forward to more articles enhancing your ALM skills and helping you become proficient in the solution process.
Keywords
ALM Microsoft Power Platform, Application Lifecycle Management guide, Mastering ALM, Microsoft Power Platform ALM, Comprehensive ALM guide, ALM for Microsoft, Power Platform ALM tips, Advanced ALM guide Power Platform, Mastering Application Lifecycle Management, Microsoft Power Platform Lifecycle Management.